Medicare patients in SC see overall healthcare costs decrease due to Southeastern Health Partners

New report illustrates Southeastern Health Partners’ efficiency, low annual cost

Southeastern Health Partners is helping provide patients with access to the best quality care, while also reducing healthcare costs by helping sick patients stay healthier and healthy patients remain well.

A new federal report indicates that Southeastern Health Partners is among the most efficient Accountable Care Organizations within its benchmark group, with per capita expenditures of $8,771. Even among the most efficient Accountable Care Organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program – those with an annual benchmark of less than $9,000 in per capita expenditures – Southeastern Health Partners ranks near the top.
Launched in 2017, Southeastern Health Partners is a collaboration of 11 hospitals and more than 2,000 providers. In 2018, the effort cut Medicare costs in South Carolina by nearly $9.8 million, while also receiving a quality score of 96.48 percent, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Southeastern Health Partners, in its first year of operation, became the largest Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization in South Carolina – based on the total number of Medicare members attributed to providers in the program. In 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had 518 Accountable Care Organizations, serving more than 10.9 million Medicare beneficiaries nationwide.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rewards Southeastern Health Partners for improving quality of care and reducing costs. Southeastern Health Partners ended 2018 with a savings rate of 2.0 percent on its Medicare population. Southeastern Health Partner’s success is particularly notable given its already low benchmark cost. This means that before starting to cut costs, Southeastern Health Partners providers had lower costs per Medicare patient than most other providers. Then, Southeastern Health Partners providers reduced costs even further, illustrating that tight financial goals can be met while improving quality care for Medicare patients.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses Accountable Care Organization and Medicare Shared Savings Program models to lower Medicare spending and keep the Medicare program sustainable for the long term. Success depends on hospitals, physicians and other clinicians encouraging patients to maintain their health through better habits – including taking medication as prescribed — in order to prevent unnecessary emergency room visits and preventable hospitalizations.

About Southeastern Health Partners
Southeastern Health Partners (SEHP) is a clinically integrated network of three healthcare systems, AnMed Health, Bon Secours St. Francis and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System with more than 11 hospitals and more than 2,000 providers who work to improve community health, elevate the patient experience through coordinated care, and lower healthcare costs.